The Philippine Jeepney - A telltale indicator of Stagnation

The Jeepney is old and flabby; it farts too loud, too much; with bulges and curves in places but the right ones; it became meaner and larger, even slower than ever; to all direction it moves in a crisscrossed fashion, aiming to isolate its breed; but when on a halt, it is almost in hibernation, as if in the wait for the onset of the next season.

The foregoing analogy is an attempt to personify, not vilify the Jeepney’s current state in relation to its rational 67 years ago. It had survived the post war era, the baby boomer years, the rock and roll hype, a decade and half of martial rule, plus three more decades up… unto this very day, and towards to probably more. The jeepney has been a part of Filipino lives and it occupies a niche in the Philippine culture. It came about after the war, amid the scarcity to serve the need for a rugged means of transportation. Since then, from dawn till next, it had  responded to that need. It had traversed roads where there was none, and had crossed waters where the river was gone. Relatively convenient and inexpensive, the jeepney became a familiar symbol of mobility.

The jeepney was elevated to an institution. It is believed to be irreplaceable and was essentially regarded as an integral part of the Filipino way of life then, now and forever. Not in this knowledge that anyone had doubted those beliefs. Evidently the government unconsciously shared that view in an unabated issuance of franchise and allowing even the un-franchise to assume public utility function, all in all, to point of abundance and saturation.

However, if there is a “yin”, there is also a “yan”, and it is true for everyone and everything under the sun, including the jeepney. While the jeepney’s positivities are glaring, its negativities are blinding and crippling.

The present day jeepneys are fabricated and assembled locally. It is powered by used reconditioned diesel engines mostly imported from Japan. Those engines are amazingly strong despite its age that runs to 15 years, on the average. It spew thick black smoke like an active volcano, while at stall  and engine running, it sounds like a Japanese machine-gun commonly referred to during WW-2 as the "woodpecker". In acceleration, one may think of two growling tigers on each side of one’s ears, and while cruising at 20-40 kilometers per hour and after fifty meters or so, it will stop on a yell of  “paRAA!” One or two passenger will alight, even after that it will not accelerate, intentionally to wait for a lone replacement walking 50 meters away. Finally, after 50 meters the lone passenger will board, still the jeepney remains motionless, it won't be able to move, not with three other jeepneys in front, park diagonally effectively restricting maneuver of the jeepney behind it. Meanwhile, in about that same time thousands of other jeepneys in consonance and replication, are doing the same thing in every meters of road over and over again, in every part of the country where it existed.

Here now lies the curse, lined behind these jeepney’s are hundreds of privately-owned vehicles unwittingly and reluctantly doing the same thing; also abruptly stopping till the jeepney ahead completes its loading/ unloading process; at times also swerving to avoid delay thereby effectively dislocating the next lane that is also lined-up by hundreds of vehicles. It was a spectacle of the ants that continue every minute, every hour, every day.

Allow me to put some muscles into the bones, so to speak, by interpreting in quantitative terms the apparent chaos described in the preceding paragraphs (well at least a portion of it). In 2006, the Department of Transportation (DOT) pegged the total number of jeepneys at around 53,000 units, while private cars at around 410,000 units, at the same time predicting an annual increase ratio of 1.7 percent. For simplicity, data were excluded for places outside metro-manila and vehicles classified as trucks, buses, utility vehicles, trailers, motorcycles, etc.

Using year 2006 as the base year and the DOT actual figures as base data, it is estimated that by 2012 the Jeepneys would reach the vicinity of 58,640 units and the private cars will increase to 453,460 units. Further, let us assume in conservative terms that a jeepney utilized by force of culture and style will be at a stall, engine running (for reasons mentioned), one hour a day, while the private vehicles by domino effect also at one hour a day. The equations would simply be:

Jeepney – 58,640 x 1 hour =    58, 640)
Cars-      453,460 x 1 hour =   453,460)     512,110 hours stalled time in a day x 360 days

                                                                        = 184,359,600 hours stalled time in a year

Let us assume further that .5 liter per hour

is consumed while at a stall with running

engine and in a stop and go mode (for

reasons mentioned above) and that the

cost of one liter of fuel is P 50.00, hence;      184,359,600 hrs. X P 50.00 x .5 liter

                                                                         = P 4,608,990,000  

Let us assume also that US Dollar 1

= P 43.00,

Hence;                                                             P 4,608, 990,000 / P 43.00

                                                                        = USD 107,185,814

In translation, the Jeepney’s uniqueness and traditional manner of utilization, which maybe considered as deviant viz a viz the rules, norms and practices of an urbanized and heavily populated society, may have at least, theoretically are costing the Philippines a staggering 4.61 billion pesos or 107.18 million US dollars annually in wasted fuel alone. A cost without benefit; borne by inefficiency and conservative insistence to dwell in the past. Again, this estimate is yet to include other vehicle types operating outside metro-manila, and other vehicle types operating in metro-manila. The consequential indirect cost might likewise be as staggering and revealing, such as, but not limited to; Wear and tear of individual vehicles (accelerated); health cost in effect of pollutants ; lost business time plus opportunity cost ; prolonged travel time for jeepney riders plus opportunity cost; shattered nerves, etc.

If this cost is avoided and aggregated into savings; what sort of an impact will it have on the Philippine national reserve, employment, education, housing, infrastructure, food, health, security and other positive development plans? Your guest is as good as mine.

Cost is being incurred; it is hidden yet it’s real; this is the jeepney’s stagnating and stifling effect on the economy. Among others, it may be attributed to misalignment of national values and misplaced perception of need vs. the value of efficiency. Obviously, it was ignored and taken as a matter for the backstage.

The Philippines is slowly bleeding within; and it has been going on for decades. The bleeding will continue and escalate if the Philippines will not find the determination and resolve to institute and accept change.

An efficient and well-drawn transport system is long overdue.  Think of a transport system that is inter-connected, that can carry goods and people expediently, so efficient and precise it will take you to your destination wherever it might be, in no more time than what is possible regardless of distance; that can accommodate all who wish to use it; that could save more sleep and family time. A transport system that will cause the jeepney to die a natural death, not necessarily as intended, but because it is the dictate of evolution , of the natural law.

The inability to evolve according to the demand of time and circumstances, on nature’s call, will stuck anything or anyone in the rut, which by the way is only shallower than a grave. The jeepney had served well, but its relevance and rationale belongs to the past. It should be allowed to rest and be committed to a monument in history… into a legacy of culture.... 

(The figures herein, unless declared otherwise are assumptions and were imputed purely for academic discussion. It is not intended to negate or challenge any existing data, technical or otherwise).